Welcome to the 2015 Reader Top 30.
I will post a poll most days Monday thru Friday. I’m starting with MLB’s Top 20 and will add names as needed. I expect the first new group of names will be added after Prospect #5 is decided. If you want to make sure a name is added to the list e-mail prospectpoll@yahoo.com using the Subject Line – Add Prospect Continue reading Reader Top 30 #1
Get ready for the 2015 Reader Top 30 Prospect Survey. An overwhelming number of readers expressed interest in having a top 30. Of 274 respondents, 246 were in favor (89.8%).
I will start next week and try to post a poll every day. I would encourage each participant to submit her or his own Top 30 to prospectpoll@yahoo.com using the Subject – My Prospect List. I am curious how the day-by-day voting would affect the outcome when compared to a one-time submission along the lines of an MVP ballot. (This is not a requirement.)
I suggest we continue to follow Baseball America’s standards for prospects by considering any player eligible for rookie status as eligible for this poll.
As a quick refresher, the following players exceeded Rookie Status during the 2014 status – David Buchanan, Ken Giles, Miguel Gonzalez (he has 122 playing days at the major league level according to Baseball Reference), Cesar Hernandez, Mario Hollands, Ethan Martin, and Cameron Rupp. Continue reading Upcoming Reader Top 30 Poll
Its finally official now. The Phillies send Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers and get back RHP Zach Eflin and LHP Tom Windle.
Here is video of Eflin.
Here is video of Windle.
My analysis: Eflin looks like a #4 starter in the majors. He is durable, none of his pitches are truly plus or better, but his overall package is solid. He looks like he’ll pitch at 90-93, so his command will need to be sharp, but he has done well since turning pro and he looks pretty durable. Windle looks like a reliever to me, but I’d give him every chance possible to stick as a starter. He has good raw stuff, but hes not a finished product and has a bit more to do. Given the Phillies struggles with player development, I’m at the point where I will take the low end of the probability scale on most guys, but Eflin at least seems pretty low risk.
Rollins had 1 year left on his deal, and I’m sure he’s happy he gets another shot at a ring, which he wasn’t going to get here.
Thanks for all of the memories, Young James.
hello, its me. i wanted to quickly say a few words about what i plan to do moving forward and what has happened since i left. a few weeks ago, i wrote a quick post saying that the site would not die, and that i was debating making a return. so, now that ive had some time to think about things, i wanted to update you. as some of you know, brevity was never my specialty, so the rest of this entry is below the fold
BA released their Phillies Top 10 today. You can find it here.
The top 10 is:
01. JP Crawford
02. Aaron Nola
03. Maikel Franco
04. Roman Quinn
05. Carlos Tocci
06. Aaron Brown
07. Matt Imhof
08. Jesmuel Valentin
09. Yoel Mecias
10. Franklyn Kilome
Please do not post the scouting reports from behind BA’s paywall. They will be pissed if you do. Here is a summary
The good:
* JP Crawford is awesome, and one of the best all around prospects in baseball
* Aaron Nola has elite command, he’s more than a soft tosser, but he has to refine his secondary stuff
* Franco has legit power and a great arm, but he’s really aggressive and has holes in his game
* Roman Quinn is one of the fastest players in baseball
The bad:
* After the top 4, it gets really bad# in a hurry
* Jesse Biddle couldn’t make the top 10, in what will be a system BA ranks in the 20-30 range. That is really troubling.
* The Phillies drafts over the last 4-5 years have been brutal. We’re feeling the effects right now.
If you’re a believer in divine intervention, say a few prayers for the bottom half of our top 10 so that things look a little better at this time next year. Also, a few people have asked me about putting out a top 30 list this winter, since I may start writing again. I’m going to decline to do that, simply because I have not paid as much attention to the system (or baseball as a whole) over the last 2 years. If I get back into it again, I will write a top 30 next winter. I will say, from what I know, that I’d rank Quinn above Franco right now, and even with his struggles, I’d have kept Biddle at #10, as I don’t think hes lost all hope, and I think hes a better bet to contribute in the majors on some level over a guy who hasn’t gotten out of A ball yet. But there isn’t much else for me to add.
Now, please discuss.
MLB began their coverage of baseball’s winter meetings at 8:00PM Sunday evening. Early in the show, Greg Amsinger, Harold Reynolds, and Dan Plesac offered their opinions on the level of activity we could expect from the Phillies at the 2014 Winter Meetings. Their preview suggested that the Phillies –
After these four earth shattering pronouncements, with which all three announcers agreed, I decided to mute the volume by 8:14PM and prep the Open Discussion for Monday. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 8, 2014; Winter Meetings Edition
I wanted to make a quick post here, just so everyone is clear. Gregg reached out to me a few days ago and mentioned he may be ready to move on. When I started this site more than 7 years ago, I never intended to move on to anything else. 2 years ago, I had lost the desire to write on a regular basis, at least with regard to minor league prospects. I’m still not sure that I’m cut out to do it anymore, but the site won’t go away and the site won’t die. I’ll continue to renew the domain name and will keep everything here as an archive, at the very least.
I have a very demanding job and that limits my ability to write. I don’t know if my next post will be tomorrow, next week, or next month. I’ve had the urge to write on occasion the last few years, but I never acted on it. Now that the site is in flux, I may get that urge again. For now, I hope that everyone who comes to and uses the site decides to stick around. I can’t promise the level of content here over the next few weeks/months/years, but all of the hard work that went into the site for the last 7+ years won’t be discarded or deleted.
Until the next one…
Comes from some other beginning’s end”. SemiSonic. So, in 2007, James gave me an opportunity to write for Phuture Phillies during a difficult personal time period and with that opportunity came over seven years of feeling “like a kid in a candy store”. I had the opportunity to write about a passion and be in an environment (at the ballpark)that is one of my personal nirvana’s. I met great people, learned a ton about the industry (media, baseball and management), and perhaps most importantly made lifelong friends. To James, my heartfelt thanks. When James left the site over two years ago, I did my best to keep up the site and did so with the goal of keeping the site aligned with James vision. The day to day work in keeping up a site like this with a very demanding “real life” career is simply overwhelming. So, with that said, I will be moving over to what I consider to be the best baseball resource in the Delaware Valley at Philly Baseball Insider (http://www.phillybaseballblog.com). I expect to contribute there fairly regularly and appreciate the opportunity to continue my passion working for (with) a friend who is a regular writer for local newspapers and a huge baseball enthusiast. I expect my participation to be limited until Spring Training, but expect to hit the ground running with pitchers and catchers….
Thanks to all those who have contributed to Phuture Phillies over the years.
Until next time…
So, I’ve gone through our archives and found that Matt ran the Reader Top 30 last year. I’ve gone through the files and think I’ve figured out how to run a poll. If you want me to moderate a poll this year, let me know in the survey below. I propose two modifications.
First, I want to start a little earlier. Last year the poll ran into the first few days of spring training. I will be covering spring training and would like to finish the poll articles before it starts. I also need to work around my schedule in December and January. A convenient start time for me would be sometime in the next three weeks.
Second, I would like to propose that you submit a personal Top 30 early in the polling process. I‘m curious how a weighted vote would compare to the day by day survey (30 points for #1, 29 for #2, … 1 for #30). I’ll set up an e-mail account to receive those submissions. I would hope to get enough submissions to make a comparison between the two processes relevant.
So, please cast a vote below. This will also be a nice test to see if I can set up a poll correctly. (As you can see above, I have figured out how to insert a picture.) This poll will be active for one week.
In the Dominican Winter League. Nefi Ogando made his debut for Aguilas Cibaenas. He pitched a 2-hit, scoreless inning. Luis Garcia made his debut in the same game for Estrellas de Oriente. He allowed a hit, walk, and unearned run in his one inning. Hector Neris had 2 more scoreless outings this past week.
In the Venezuelan Winter League, Ethan Martin was roughed up in his second appearance on the 24th, but came back with a scoreless effort in his next outing. He pitched a total of 4 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, and struck out four.
The ABL seems to be taking its toll on most of our guys. Dylan Cozens (.204) was 2 for 10 with 3 Ks this week and was relegated to pinch runner in Sunday’s game. Brian Pointer (.207) was 0-12 with 4 Ks. Mitch Walding (.218) was a productive 3-14 with a home run, walk, K, and 7 RBIs. Chace Numata (.271) was 3-15 with 3 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2 Ks, 2 SB.
Off season stats for all Phillies players can be viewed at: http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=phi
With the signing of Yasmany Tomas by Arizona, the list of available free agent outfielders has become less appealing. If the Phillies are to upgrade, they’ll have to do it from among these players –
Left Fielders – Melky Cabrera (30), Mike Carp (29), Endy Chavez (37), Tyler Colvin (29),
Nelson Cruz (34), Chris Denorfia (34), Cole Gillespie (30), Jonny Gomes (34), Tony Gwynn Jr. (32), Scott Hairston (35), Reed Johnson (38), Jason Kubel (33), Ryan Ludwick (36), Nyjer Morgan (34), Mike Morse (33), Delmon Young (29)
Center Fielders – Emilio Bonifacio (30), Ezequiel Carrera (28), Endy Chavez (37), Nyjer Morgan (34), Colby Rasmus (28)
Right Fielders – Nori Aoki (33), Endy Chavez (37), Tyler Colvin (29), Nelson Cruz (34),
Chris Denorfia (34), Scott Hairston (35), Torii Hunter (39), Nick Markakis (31),
Alex Rios (34), Nate Schierholtz (31), Ichiro Suzuki (41)
On the pitching front, none of the top FA pitchers has signed. But Oakland has been shopping Jeff Samardzija. The Mets have been reported as actively trying to trade Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee or Jon Niese. Maybe the Mets are trying to exploit the market between the Phillies’ asking price for Cole Hamels and what teams are willing to trade.
Phuture Phillies 